PILIPINO Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PBGEA) president Stephen Antig welcomed Thursday the reports on peer review conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The said report has tagged the Department of Health sponsored study in a plantation village in Davao del Sur as "inadequate" and "inconclusive".

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"We are happy but we have yet to receive the official and complete results of the peer review conducted by the WHO," Antig told Sun.Star Davao Thursday at the PBGEA office.

National newspapers carried reports that WHO officials, who conducted the peer review on the highly disputed Camocaan study, were not convinced by the study, which said that the study was an insufficient basis to call for the banning of aerial spraying.

The disputed study was conducted by the Department of Health and some organizations who have called for the banning of aerial spraying in the sleepy sitio of Camocaan in Hagonoy town, Davao del Sur.

The study, released last May, recommended a stop to aerial spraying as an agricultural practice, among others.

WHO Intervention

Late September, WHO stopped the Philippine government from taking any action against aerial spraying pending the international body's review.

WHO officials asked the government to shelve any action on the ban being pushed by environment advocates until it completes reviewing the disputed Camocaan study, which said residue from pesticide spraying was detected in villagers' blood, in the air, and soil samples.

The WHO stepped into the controversial aerial spraying of agrichemicals, amid allegations of rigging in a study purportedly showing that pesticide contamination has breached the boundaries of agricultural plantations.

Senate and House

At the moment, two bills seeking the nationwide ban on aerial spraying of pesticides, authored by Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez and Senator Miguel Zubiri who hails from Mindanao, are anchored on similar studies -- all connecting the aerial application of agrichemicals to various illnesses allegedly suffered by residents near agricultural areas.

"Once and for all, the study on Camocaan will be resolved and finally put to rest," Antig said.

The banana umbrella group has accused those involved in the study of "strong bias against pesticide" and of using environmental samples of questionable integrity and fabricated illnesses among residents.